Congregations

Thoughts on the Gospel by David Joy

THOUGHTS
ON THE GOSPEL

June 2016
No. 233

‘Until
the day break and the shadows flee away,’ Solomon’s Song Ch4 v 6

The Enduring Word of
God

Very early on a
stormy morning, as I stood in the darkness on the cliff tops near my home, I listened
to unseen waves ravaging the seashore far below me. As I did so, I marvelled at
the fact that the cliffs on which I stood had, despite turbulent seas, been
there for thousands of years.

Reminded that Jesus
is ‘the same yesterday, and today and for ever,’ Hebrews 13 v 8, I
considered that, like the ancient cliffs upon which I stood, His word will
however, endure for ever. It ‘is quick and powerful and sharper than any two
edged sword...’ Hebrews 4 v 12.

And I remembered
that whatever stormy trial may engulf the church or us personally that for
those who have faith in Jesus, blessings will follow for ‘all things work
together for good to them that love God..’ Romans 8 v 28.

Hidden Beauty

Trials can bring us
into such a state of despair that our heart ‘is full of troubles,’ Psalm 88
v1,2.

But, friends, like
the awesome beauty of the sea, for the moment hidden by the night, there is
often beauty hidden in trials that will only be evident in future days or even
years and we will realise our affliction was used by God to bring gladness
to our hearts (Psalm 90 v 15.)

God’s Power

As day broke, I
could clearly see the majestic and powerful waves relentlessly advancing upon
the seashore below, and I recalled that in ancient times God had ‘caused the
sea to go back,’ Exodus 14 v 21.

And so, when
affliction, loss or despair relentlessly advance upon us, like wave after wave
rolling in upon the shore, may we gain strength from the thought that the same
God who turned back the sea, is still in control.

The Church's Future

In the revealing
light of daybreak I wondered what effect the many stormy ‘sufferings of this
present time,’ Romans 8 v 18, will have on the Christian Church? Will it ‘be able
to withstand in the evil day...’ Ephesians 6 v 13?

The churches
troubles have been, throughout the centuries, such, that at times it was at a
very low ebb, and indeed Jesus said that in this life we ‘shall have
tribulation,’ John 16 v 33. Can we predict what the future will bring?

No one can foretell
exactly what is yet to happen on earth. It may be that the darkness that
hinders the church will deepen still further and the shadows that cripple it
will be multiplied. But rather than dwell on these possibilities we should be
strengthened by the fact that, as the disciples stood watching Jesus ascending
to heaven, two angels appeared and said ‘men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing
up into Heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven,’ Acts 1 v 11.

And so, whatever His
plan for the future we can be assured that not only will Jesus come again but
all who have trusted in Him will one day join Him in a ‘new heaven and a new
earth,’ Revelation 21 v 1.

Christ’s Return

That day may
possibly be nearer than we think. It is certainly nearer now than it was two
thousand years ago and getting nearer every day that passes. But whenever the
Lord returns, all the shadows of doubt, unbelief, fear and sin, that trouble
His church, shall disappear.

For then all that
was hidden will, like all that was revealed on the clifftop by the breaking of
a new day, be revealed as the dawn truly breaks, the shadows flee away and the
redeemed ‘inherit all things,’ Revelation 21 v 7.

May this encourage
us to look beyond the present day to the day when the great Shepherd shall
gather in His flock from ‘every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation,’ Revelation 4 v 9, and their conflicts will be for ever over.

The Ebbing Tide

Later that day, as I
looked at the sea, the tide had ebbed, the wind had died down, and the storm
had ended, reminding me that ‘to everything there is a season, and a time to
every purpose ..’ Ecclesiastes 3 v 1.

Friends, troubles
come and go and the seasons of life are ever changing. We will have our good
days and our bad days but God has a purpose and time for everything.

Yes, life will bring
us trials and disappointments, but as the ebbing tide brought peace to the
seashore, so does God often, after tribulation, bring peace into our hearts.

May we be
strengthened by the thought that the God, who has been good to us in the
past, near to us in the present and given us hope for the future will never,
ever leave us or forsake us.

Our Church

The Associated Presbyterian Churches is a confessional denomination whose system of doctrine is summed up in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

We confess that the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments have been given by God to His Church by inspiration and that they are the sufficient and only infallible rule of faith and practice and arbitrator of all of all controversies with respect to our Most Holy Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In agreement with the Scripture as the basis of all true churches, we identify our theology as being catholic, evangelical and reformed.

Our theology is “catholic” in the sense that it reaffirms the doctrines of the historic Christian Faith which spans across generational, geographical, language or racial boundaries. Thus, we take seriously the apostolic admonition recorded for us in Jude 3 to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Our theology is “evangelical” in the sense that affirms the vital and biblical doctrines of historic Protestantism such as Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.

Our theology is “reformed” in the sense that it is God-centered to the core.

Reformed theology is mainly (not exclusively) distinguished from other Protestant systems of belief by the fact that it places great emphasis on the doctrine of God.

The biblical structure of God’s covenant of grace, which is at the very heart of Reformed theology, provides the framework for our theology.

The APC came into being in 1989, following the perceived failure of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland to put into practice two chapters of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Church’s Subordinate Standard.

In this way, it may be said that the APC ‘distinctives’ which caused its separate existence in May, 1989 were a re-asserting in its Church Practice of chapters 20 and 26 of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Chapter 20: “Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience” – ‘God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in any way contrary to His Word; or beside it, if matters of faith or worship. So that, to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience: and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.

Chapter 26: “Of Communion of Saints” – The APC seeks to re-assert this communion as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith itself: “Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offers opportunity, is to be extended to all those who in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus”.

We in the APC, therefore, practice fellowship with all Evangelical Christians, and, on this basis, have an ‘open pulpit’ policy. We believe that it is correct to allow Christians to make their own decisions on matters that are not fundamental to the faith.

We emphasise the importance of doctrine based on the Bible as the Supreme Standard and the Westminster Confession of Faith as the Subordinate Standard.